


of saltwater kisses

by h4n4n3n3



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Day At The Beach, F/F, First Kiss, Inner Dialogue, Kissing, One Shot, ive had half of this in my notes since august, kind of?, the ending is kinda half baked lol sorry, theyre girlfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27601040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h4n4n3n3/pseuds/h4n4n3n3
Summary: You grabbed her hands. “We’ll go in together, and I’ll protect you. I won’t let anything happen to you, all right?”Riko was sure her cheeks glowed bright red at this. She nodded to her friend, certain that any words she tried to muster out would end in a jumbled mess of vowels.or,you invites riko to a day at the beach.
Relationships: Sakurauchi Riko & Watanabe You, Sakurauchi Riko/Watanabe You
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37





	of saltwater kisses

**Author's Note:**

> i had the idea to write this fic when i was at the beach this summer, wrote half of it, and never finished it. finally ended it even tho its kind of half baked... oh well:( i hope u enjoy regardless! <3

Sakurauchi Riko was not asleep. Her eyes were closed, and she was in sort of a half-dreaming state, but she could still hear the crash of the waves and the shift of the sand and pebbles, the quiet muttering of her friend on the phone. She was aware of all of these things as she lay on her cherryblossom beach towel, but at the same time, she wasn’t. Her mind was here, on this beach with Watanabe You, but it was also far away, thinking of… well, other things she could be doing on this beach with Watanabe You.

When the plan to ride the bus a few towns over to spend a day together was presented, Riko wasn’t all too sure whether she should accept. On one hand, this sounded like a dream. She hadn’t been invited to do something alone with any of her new friends at Uranohoshi yet. Sure, she had gone to study at the coffee shop with Chika before, but that was just something that happened-it wasn’t something as grand as this. (And, no offense to Chika, but You was just  _ special.  _ She couldn’t explain it, or rather, she didn’t want to think about that part of herself just yet). On the other hand, Riko was really nervous to accept. To put it lightly, she wasn’t the best in one-on-one situations. 

For example, what Riko could not wrap her head around was how You could so nonchalantly say, “Hey Riko, if you’re not busy this Saturday, I was thinking of heading over to that beach town Mari took us to a few months ago. Wanna come?” 

Riko, who could hardly ask someone for a pencil without working herself up almost to tears, was bewildered by how You could be so casual about everything. (And look so pretty while doing it.) Riko’s world seemed to always be spinning, everyone around her moving so fast-she could never keep up. It was hard to think about. 

As Riko’s consciousness shifted to her current state in the world, the muttering voice became much more clear. 

“Chika, I can’t tell her  _ now. _ I’m pretty sure she’s asleep right now anyway. What?! No, that's creepy! I am NOT doing that! Oh shoot, I think I’m being too loud…” 

This piqued Riko’s interest. Was she talking about her? And if she was, what did Chika want You to tell her so badly? 

You continued to speak into her cell phone as Riko remained as still as one could in this situation. “Yeah, I brought the letter just in case, but I kind of wanted to do it in person. I don’t want to let myself chicken out again…” 

Okay, now Riko was invested. She had almost told her this strange secret before? When?  _ Why hadn’t she noticed?  _

She didn’t have much time to dwell on it, because now You was hanging up the phone. From what she could understand from the muffled voice coming from the phone’s speaker, Chika’s sister was calling her to do something. 

Riko shifted from her back to her side, signalling You that she was waking up. 

“Riko! You awake?”

Riko opened her eyes to look at You, but had to shield her eyes with her hand.  _ Since when had the sun gotten so bright? _

You hummed, and reached into her bag to grab a pair of sunglasses. “Here ya go!” 

“Oh! Thank you!” Riko grabbed the glasses, “It’s way more sunny than I expected. 

You nodded. “Right? The weather said partly cloudy…” the girls looked up at the clear, blue sky. Despite the sun getting close to setting, the air was dry and hot. “But, hey, the perfect weather for a little swim, right?” 

Riko pondered this. The ocean scared her a little. There were so many creatures, you never know what’s lurking at your feet. The waves are always so big, Riko used to have dreams of them swallowing her in. But if it was for You, then maybe… 

You grabbed her hands. “We’ll go in together, and I’ll protect you. I won’t let anything happen to you, all right?” 

Riko was sure her cheeks glowed bright red at this. She nodded to her friend, certain that any words she tried to muster out would end in a jumbled mess of vowels. 

She stepped out of her denim shorts, now just in her pink polka-dotted tankini. You was in her classic navy blue one-piece. When she was prepared, she walked along with you to the shoreline. You’s fingers interlaced with her own.

As her toes met the icy water, Riko spoke up. “Do you think we can count down first?” 

“Yeah, of course. On 3?”

Riko nodded, and they spoke together. 

“One,” Riko faced the waves ahead of her. 

“Two,” You watched her friend, amusedly. She’d done this a hundred times. 

“Three!” Riko’s legs were moving faster than she thought they could. She pushed down the thoughts of jellyfish circling her ankles, and fish nibbling her knees, and big waves striking her down. Because when she was in this state of determination, and her hand was enveloped in her friend’s, the freezing water didn’t feel so cold anymore, the beasts in her head didn’t seem so scary. 

The two girls ran until they were shoulder-deep, and turned to each other, a bright smile on both of their faces. And all of a sudden, they were laughing. Neither of them could tell you who started laughing first, or why. Maybe it was You laughing at the way Riko’s face looked when she was preparing to enter the sea, or maybe it was Riko laughing at the way You’s hand started to squeeze hers tightly, because even the legendary Watanabe You gets nervous sometimes. They were laughing so hard that they forgot where they were, laughing so hard that they didn't happen to see a larger-sized wave coming towards them. 

Riko was the first to see it. She stared straight ahead like a deer in the headlights, and her breathing stopped as if time had come to a halt. In the back of her head, she remembered learning what to do in this situation while at a sailing camp with the members of Aquors, but was too paralyzed to remember clearly or do anything about it.

Lucky for her, she was the resident expert on all things ocean, basically. When she followed Riko’s gaze and saw the wave approaching, she wrapped her arms around her friend, pulled her close, and flung them straight into the wave. 

If Riko had been more lucid, she might have been able to savor the way she clung tightly to You in this moment, or the way You’s fingertips felt on her upper arms, which were covered in goosebumps from the cool water. But she couldn’t even begin to process what was going on around her until her friend had positioned them back over the water again, and the waves had calmed. 

She pulled away from You and looked at her wide-eyed. “That was scary!” 

She gave her a half-apologetic smile. “Kind of fun though, right?” She earned herself a weak slap on the shoulder for that one. “Sorry, sorry. But hey, the waves are calm now, and look, the sun is starting to set!”

She was right. When Riko turned her head to look, she was met with all kinds of pinks and oranges and purples. It really was beautiful, but she couldn’t help but focus her attention on her friend. Riko had always admired You. She was absolutely ethereal, without even meaning to be. Whenever she saw her in her white baseball cap, she suddenly didn’t know how to breathe. Sometimes, on a long bus ride, You would sit next to Riko and offer her one of her earbuds. If she was lucky, she would even lean her head on her shoulder. 

All of this, and she knew that You felt none of the same. For one, You acted this way with  _ everyone, _ right? She was naturally outgoing and friendly. She tried her best to make everyone feel safe and included. So whenever You decided to sit next to someone else on a long bus ride, she put her own earbuds in and forgot about it. 

She always held herself back. Riko tried not to be selfish, and even if she wanted to be, she had been too reserved to go after what she wanted. 

When You turned her head from the sunset back to Riko, all of these realizations came flooding into her mind. She didn’t know if it was the way that You’s wet hair clung to the sides of her face, or the way water droplets adorned her cheeks like freckles. Or maybe, it was the way she turned her head to the side when she saw Riko’s eyes gazing at her so deeply. 

No matter what it was, she couldn’t stop herself, and didn’t really want to. Not this time. This was her opportunity, she realized. She wouldn’t hold herself back.

Riko started to lean in. 

You’s eyes widened in surprise briefly before enthusiastically closing the space between them. And wow, Riko did not think this is how her first kiss would go. She thought she might kiss a boy, so this was already off to a way better start than she imagined. 

What she absolutely didn’t expect was how You placed her hands so carefully on her waist and pulled her in closer. Riko heard once that it was a good idea to run your hands through people’s hair when you kiss them, so that’s what she did. 

That’s when it hit her. She was kissing Watanabe You.

This made her want to pull away and hide her face in her hands, but even more than that it made her want to pull her even closer, go deeper.  _ More. _

When You slipped her tongue in, just a tiny bit, she felt herself stumble back in shock, but her friend caught her. 

After a blissful few moments, Riko gently pulled away for air. 

You flashed Riko a shy smile, one she knew was saved just for her. And Riko’s world stilled. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank u so much for reading! kudos and comments r super appreciated :)


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